Baby formula withdrawn after mother finds dead lizard in tin

Lisa Visentin

Aspen Nutritionals has announced it will withdraw a batch of baby formula after a mother opened a tin and discovered a dead lizard rotting inside.

The announcement follows Fairfax Media's report on Artilina Castanares, a 30-year-old mother of two from The Ponds, who discovered the lizard after opening a newly bought tin of S-26 Original Process formula on Friday.

In a statement released on Monday, the company said it was "very concerned" by Mrs Castanares' discovery and "is voluntarily withdrawing the affected batch number 40727482A2 while it investigates the issue".

The company said the voluntarily withdrawal meant that no further stocks of the affected batch of formula would be sold.

Aspen Nutritionals confirmed it was working with the NSW Food Authority to investigate the issue.

On Sunday, Mrs Castanares called on the company to withdraw the affected batch after she informed "Careline", the product's contact hotline, of her discovery and was directed to return the tin with the dead lizard inside to the company's head office for an investigation.

Mrs Castanares said she was advised she would have to wait up to two months before she heard anything.

"You don’t take any risk when it comes to our children," she said. "In the meantime, you would be recalling the product or at least that batch."